Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
The Agency is already seeing the impacts of climate change through the increasing strain on...
Conclusion
The Agency is already seeing the impacts of climate change through the increasing strain on existing flood defences. In March 2020, the government gave the Agency £120 million to repair the defences damaged in the 2019–20 winter floods. At that time, the 12 https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/4520/documents/45720/default/ 13 C&AG’s Report, para 2.19 14 Q 74 15 Q 68–69 16 Q 69, 71–72 17 Q 27, 70 12 Managing food risk Agency identified 610 flood defences that needed work and it expected to complete 80% of these by the end of 2020. During our oral evidence session, the Agency said that only 262 (43%) have had their standard of protection fully restored; 189 (31%) have temporary fixes or contingency plans in place so that they will provide the necessary protection if needed. The Agency has concluded that the remaining 159 (26%) do not need any contingency arrangements.18 In written evidence provided after the session, the Agency provided an update on these figures. The repair programme now consists of 604 projects. Of these, 321 (53%) have had their standard of protection restored by permanent or temporary repairs, 140 (23%) have contingency plans in place and, for the remaining 143 (24%), the Agency does consider there to be a need for contingency plans. The Agency said that it has prioritised the repair of assets that pose the most significant risk to lives and livelihoods.19 National flood risk indicators
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: ongoing ahead of Spending Review 2021 4.2 The government recognises that there can be benefits to setting budgets for key priorities on a multi- year basis. This is why the government has taken a multi-year approach to flood and coastal defence investment, now commencing its second six-year floods programme. Between 2015 and 2021, £2.6 billion has been invested across six years and starting in April 2021 a record £5.2 billion will be invested in the next six-year capital investment programme for flood defences. This investment will deliver around 2,000 flood schemes and will better protect 336,000 properties from flooding. 4.3 Defra and the Agency recognise the need to ensure a smooth transition across programmes. That is why they have worked jointly with HM Treasury to bring forward £100 million of capital development funding into the final year of the 2015-21 programme. 4.4 Between 2015 and 2020, the government significantly increased funding for the maintenance of flood defence assets and wider maintenance, for example river conveyance work. The government will continue to review future budgets as part of SR21.